As is often the case, many of my favorite recipes arise out of random phone calls with my mom. One afternoon, she mentioned that she was now eating oatmeal for breakfast quite regularly (yay!). She then told me that she added slivers of seaweed or ê¹€ to her bowl of oats. Now that sounded intriguing. I’d normally thought of oatmeal as a sweet affair–kinda in line with the whole breakfast=dessert=breakfast idea (I literally saw a tiramisu overnight oats thing the other day…). Thus, the notion of going all in on the savory oatmeal was crazy, weird, unheard of.
BRILLIANT
So, I decided to take the “seaweed + oatmeal” thing to the next level and even inspired some friends to do the same!
The Dolsot
A dolsot is a stone pot that is often used in Korean cooking to make rice. It’s quite literally carved out of a rock and serves as the perfect vehicle for making a beautiful fluffy pot of rice. Hence, one of the most popular dishes in Korean cuisine–bibimbap–often comes crackling in a dolsot. Dolsots get incredibly hot and you therefore need to be careful when cooking with them, but the results are well worth it. I wasn’t sure if making oatmeal in a dolsot would work, but I’m glad I thought of it because it worked PERFECTLY.
I used gluten free rolled outs for this recipe, only because I really don’t know much about oatmeal and wanted to use something that sounded less processed. Also, I do remember from our gluten free days that not all oats are gluten free.
I followed the instructions on the back, only using my dolsot instead of a regular old pot. I put on the lid, put it on the stovetop over medium heat, and promptly forgot about it to work on my toppings. After 15 minutes, I took off the lid and was met with a creamy, dreamy pot of perfect oats.
The Toppings
Now, many of you know that I love Gyerranmarri, or my mother’s Korean style omelet. I use JUSTEgg to make my gyerranmari, but so many people do not have access to liquid egg replacers. So, I decided to try my hand at making something of my own. I ended up mixing together some potato starch (to give it that sticky stretchiness), some soft tofu (for the jiggle), some turmeric and nooch (for color and flavor), and some soy milk (to bind it all together).
I tried frying it just like I would regular gyerranmari and found that it was too delicate to use chopsticks and thus opted for a spatula. It worked just as well, rolling up like a regular gyerranmari. It wasn’t as fluffy as an omelet, but it sure did look the part!
Did it taste the part too? Not gonna like: no. It tasted really good, but it didn’t taste like egg to me at all. But sometimes, we eat more with our eyes than our tastebuds, amiright? Either way, I was pleased with the result and liked that it added some protein to my breakfast oatmeal.
In addition to my tofu-omelet, I fired up a some vegan sausage and of course, tore up a little seaweed over it all, and topped the entire thing with my favorite vegan kimchi.
It was immaculate.
The Bottom
So, you know what the best part of dolsot bibimbap is? The caramelized bottom of the dolsot. So, guess what the best part of dolsot oatmeal is? The caramelized bottom of the dolsot! I was so delighted to find the oatmeal had turned chewy and delicious at the bottom of my dolsot, as I unapologetically scraped as much of it up with my spoon as possible. This was hands down the BEST bowl of oatmeal I’ve ever eaten.
Quick Tips for Making Korean Style Savory Dolsot Oatmeal
- Try and use a dolsot. If you cannot find a traditional Korean stone pot, you can use a Korean clay pot, which you can purchase here. If you can’t get one of these, then use a Dutch oven or cast iron pot.
- Use a spatula to roll the tofu-omelet, as it is more fragile than gyerranmari with a liquid egg replacer.
- Top your oatmeal with whatever you like–sauteed spinach, pickles, even vegan cheese!
Korean Style Savory Dolsot Oatmeal
Equipment
- Dolsot (stone) pot
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup GF rolled oats
- 1 scallion chopped
- 2 tbsp potato starch
- 4 oz soft tofu mashed up
- pinch sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- black pepper
- 1/2 cup plant milk
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 vegan sausage sliced
- 1/4 sheet roasted or fried seaweed
- 1/4 cup vegan kimchi
Instructions
- Add rolled oats to dolsot (you can use a small pot if you don't have a dolsot), together with 1 cup of water. Place on the stove, covered, over medium heat and cook for 15 minutes.
- While the oatmeal is cooking, mix together (or blend) scallion, potato starch, tofu, sea salt, turmeric, nutritional yeast, black pepper, and plant milk.
- Add olive oil to a non-stick pan over medium high heat. Pour the tofu mixture into the pan and cook for about 2 minutes, until it starts to turn dark yellow around the edges.
- Using a spatula, gently start rolling the tofu "crepe" from one side to the other until it is completely rolled. Push the roll back to the other side of the pan.
- Pour 1/4 of the remaining mixture into the pan and repeat (continue rolling). Repeat until the entire tofu mixture is used up.
- Cook up the vegan sausage slices.
- When the oatmeal is done, add slices of the tofu "omelet," sliced vegan sausage, torn pieces of the seaweed, and a healthy helping of kimchi.
